Acceptance
by Fae 206
Summary: (Future Set) After two years of dating, Kyoko agrees to marry Kuon but only if he tells Japan who he is. Wanting to visit his parents first, the two plan a trip to surprise Kuu and Julie in LA. What they don't know is how much has changed since Kuon left including a younger sister that Kuon was never told about. Can Kuon really commit himself to his identity with these new changes?
1. Chapter 1 - Coming Home

**AN:** I realize that there are multiple things to point to that might not make this story feasible but I really loved the idea so decided to write it 😊 I hope that some people out there enjoy it as well.

 **Acceptance**

 **Chapter One – Coming Home**

It had been two years after they had started dating that Kuon had asked Kyoko if she would marry him. At first he had seen her hesitance, but after he had assured her that nothing had to change and he would split the housework with her and that he would try to eat proper meals and learn how to cook better, she had said yes with one condition.

She didn't mind how long it took for him to be ready to do it, the twenty year old did _not_ want to be married to anyone other than Kuon Hizuri which meant that before she would marry the man she loved, he would have to come out to the world as the man he really was.

He had promised her that he would do so if she would become Kyoko _Hizuri_ and she had accepted happily.

The ring was gorgeous and every time Kyoko would look at it she would feel her heart flooded with the love that only her Corn, her Kuon could make her feel. All those story books that she had read had a happily ever after moment with the prince. She was beyond happy that this prince, who was standing at LAX baggage claim, was also the emperor.

"You know," Kyoko smiled as she waited for Kuon to pick up the bags. "As much as I love your 'Corn' look, you didn't need to dye your hair and take out your contacts. How am I supposed to explain this to Japan…to _your_ fans that I'm spending time with another man."

" **I'm sorry, I don't speak Japanese,"** Kuon said in English using his Californian accent. He winked at her as he grabbed the last bag off of the belt and came to stand beside her. She rolled her eyes and looked up at him.

" **Well, then I don't believe we've met. I'm sorry. I must leave. Goodbye"** she teased him as she spoke in English but with the foreign accent over the words. Unlike Ren, she hadn't had to speak in English for a lot of parts and even then Kuon had spent most of his life talking in English. She would have to try to improve her accent.

"Alright," Kuon laughed as he came over to her and kissed the top of her head. "I surrender, plus, I don't think that anyone is going to pay attention to us so we don't need to be careful like we would in Japan," he said as he held her hand. "Besides, I've already arranged a press conference to cover my coming out, thank you for allowing me to do this one last thing though."

Kyoko laughed softly. She was excited to see Kuu-sama again as well and to meet Julienna for the very first time. She had suspected news of the two of them dating had either been found online by the Hizuris or Lory had told them. She had wished that Kuon had told them too. After eight years, Kuon was finally in LA and seeing his family. She knew that his international projects hadn't been shot here and she wondered if surprising his parents was really worth it.

Kuon had even arranged for a hotel room in case they needed it. Hopefully they wouldn't.

Kyoko silently followed Kuon to the rental car office where they were going to give him a vehicle for them to use during this stay. Kuon had been excited to show her parts of the US that he had grown up visiting or enjoyed spending the day at. It was really exciting to see the place that her future husband considered his 'home'.

"Are you excited?" Kyoko asked as Kuon returned to her side with the keys.

"Excited _and_ Terrified," he told her with a playful smile. "I haven't been brave enough before. I think that with my princess by my side however I'll be able to greet my parents. I feel guilty that I've spent so many years avoiding them, especially my mother."

"It's alright, you're here now," Kyoko said as she kissed his cheek. She just hoped that there wouldn't be too much tension when they arrived.

…..

…..

The drive to the Hizuri estate was filled with traffic, but at least it gave the two of them time to talk to one another. Kyoko grinned as she saw how excited her fiancé was about returning to his roots. She also saw how nervous he was about the possible rejection from his parents. He had told her a lot of darker stories about what had happened here and if those were her shadows, she would most likely run from them as well.

The house was amazing, Kyoko saw the garden, the swimming pool around the side, the topiary and the three storey building. How did Kuu live like this? No wonder Kuon had had to punch in a security code at the front gate. Fortunately, it hadn't been changed in ten years or they may have had to call ahead.

"It's bigger than I remember," Kuon told her as Kyoko laughed.

"I imagine so," she said with a nod. She knew that Shoutaro's parents owned numerous inns in Japan, but none of them looked like this. "This place is incredible," she said as Kuon got out of the car, leaving the bags behind. He stretched before pausing as he caught the sound of a young girl singing.

He looked around and then saw that the side gate was open. Had some kid just run in here and started playing? Maybe it was his mother looking after the daughter of a friend or a coworker. Kuon took a deep breath and went towards the sound, Kyoko following after wanting to match Kuon's moves.

The two of them were stunned to see a six year old playing with a teddy bear and having him make tracks in the dirt. This was a really strange sight.

Kyoko couldn't help but think about the long blonde hair of the little girl and how she looked similar to how Corn had been. She had emerald eyes which matched Kuon's. Maybe a cousin or something. She did have to say with the green dress and plastic tiara she was wearing she looked like the most adorable princess.

"Hello," Kuon said as he approached her, he saw her flinch but then look up at him in wonder. Her young eyes filled with so much curiosity about the man who approached her. "Who are you?" he asked as she clutched to her teddy. Kuon sighed, did he really come off that scarily to her?

"My name is-" he started, it might be better to say that he wasn't going to hurt her.

He just wanted to find out what she was doing here. He wondered if any of his relatives had brought their child here, maybe his maternal aunt.

"You're the man in the pictures," she said pointing to him as Kuon blinked. Okay, so she was most likely a relative. It was nice that his family had photographs of him though he did feel guilty about isolating himself for so many years.

"Oh," he said with a nod, "Maybe, I haven't seen them. Are you visiting the Hizuris?" he asked as the girl shook her head.

That seemed out of place.

"No. This is my house," she pointed as Kuon looked at her in shock. Maybe one of his relatives had lost their job, he could understand how his parents would allow someone to live with them. The house was big enough and his parents were always so kind and loving.

"Oh," Kuon nodded as Kyoko stood back, she didn't feel it was her place to interrupt. "Is your mother's name Ana?" he asked as the little girl shook her head.

"Nope," she replied as Kuon felt confused. So, she wasn't his aunt's kid, then who was she. "Mommy and Daddy have lots of pictures of you, there are pictures where you wear a lot of black and look really sad. You don't look sad now," the girl pointed to Kyoko who smiled but kept looking back at Kuon as if not knowing what to do. "Is she a princess?"

"Well, she's a princess to me," Kuon smiled before hearing his mother's voice, he would have recognized it anywhere.

"Katarina!" Julie called out before the next words caught Kuon completely off guard.

"Mommy!" Katarina called as she grabbed her bear and ran over to Julie who was trying to put a cardigan on her. "Look! It's the man from the photographs," she said as Julie laughed.

"What man?" she asked before she looked up at a wide eyed Kuon. She paused as she saw the fear throughout his body and how he was completely stuck. What on earth was happening? "Ku-"

Kuon quickly got to his feet and before he could listen to another word he had run off, he was unable to think about this, unable to comprehend.

"Kuon!" Kyoko called after him, she looked back at Julie and quickly bowed. "I'm so sorry Hizuri-san, I really wanted to meet you but I have to make sure that Kuon is okay," she said as Julie nodded looking very guilty about everything.

"You're Kyoko aren't you?" she asked as the auburn haired girl nodded and then tried to run to catch up with her fiancé. What on earth was going on here? It was true that Kuon hadn't come back for eight years but there had to be another explanation other than the obvious one that he had a sister his parents had never told him about.

As Kyoko passed the car she jumped in, knowing that it might be easier to catch him and then they could go to the hotel room to talk. She had no idea how to console him over this. She just wanted to be his support and after a shocking blow like this, he _needed_ her support.

….

….

Katarina meanwhile looked up at her mother. Other than that man being the one in multiple photographs throughout the house, she had no idea who he was. She had always heard that he was someone important to her parents that she would hopefully meet one day. She hadn't known that he would just turn up when she was playing.

"Mommy," she asked with her wide eyes, "Who was that man? He's the one from the pictures, right?"

Julie took a deep breath in. "Katarina," she said as she held her daughter close to her. "Please don't ask too many questions right now, I know this is going to be hard to take in, but that man is your older brother. Remember how you always asked me for a sibling?"

Katarina nodded, "but _I_ wanted to be the older one," she said before looking at her mother. "Will he come back?"

Julie sighed, "I hope so, I really do hope so and if that happens, we have to be very welcoming and understanding. We want him to feel that he's a part of our family, right?" she asked as Katarina nodded. She was extremely confused about why her mommy and daddy had kept this a secret from her and it seemed from that man, her big brother, as well.


	2. Chapter 2 - Siblings

**AN:** So, in the previous chapter I said it had been eight years when I think it's been nearly nine years, but I don't feel like changing it 😊 I really hope people are enjoying this story and thank you so much for the reviews.

 **Chapter Two – Siblings**

Kyoko had sat very still in the hotel room as Kuon sat on the edge of the bed trying to figure things through. Kyoko knew that he probably had a lot of questions on his mind that he needed to know the answers to. Kyoko felt that the only way for him to find those answers was to return to the Hizuri property and demand an explanation. That wasn't something that he was ready to do yet.

"Is this _my_ fault?" Kuon asked his fiancée, "Maybe I should have been looking up articles about my Mom and Dad, but they always made me feel homesick. If I had then…"

"You would have heard about it somewhere," Kyoko commented as she came and sat next to the man she loved. "I mean, maybe gossiping fans aren't that reliable, but I'm sure the president would know…" she paused, maybe the president _had known_ and he had just been lying to Kuon as well.

"I can't believe that I have a sister that my parents didn't even tell me about," he said weakly. "I mean, I would have wanted to see her. Screw Ren Tsuruga, I would have wanted to be around my new family, at least to meet her."

Kyoko looked down, "Maybe they thought that since you were doing so well as Ren Tsuruga that they didn't want to mess up your chances. Ren's always been a very popular celebrity, if you were just to ditch him though."

"That's…" Kuon stared in front of him, "I have a _sister_ , it's not like my parents moved houses or my mother retired from acting. This is a human being that is my sibling and I had no idea existed. There isn't an excuse to this," he said as he looked at his hand. Why would his parents do this to him unless they really didn't want him to be part of their family.

Kyoko sighed and reached for Kuon's hand, "I know that this is frustrating beyond belief," she said and looked down. "I mean, I'm even angry _for_ you, but…Kuon, we can't change the truth and the truth is that you have a little sister. I know it's hard to deal with but you have two choices and I'll support you whatever you choose," she saw him looking at her and took a deep breath in.

"First of all, you can run and we can go back to Japan. If that's what you need to do then that's what we'll do. Second, you can go back there and try to give her a better first impression." Kyoko bowed her head. "I know it's not really your fault, but that girl knows that you talked to her and then ran from her. I'm sure that it'll be explained that you're family and it'll just show that you are afraid of your family and are rejecting her. I mean, I can remember when I was her age…"

"And you were infatuated with Fuwa?" Kuon rolled his eyes and Kyoko shook her head.

"I was really sad but I was afraid to show my sadness. It was when I was six years old that I met someone who would let me cry, someone who would try to comfort me and more importantly listen to me. I ran into the woods and I came across my fairy prince. If it wasn't for you and the gifts you gave me, I might not have made it through." Kyoko placed a hand on Kuon's cheek, "I fell in love with Ren, but I love you even more despite the fact that you sometimes need an outlet for the violence. I'm just saying that you could give that little girl the same thing that Corn gave me."

Kuon closed his eyes, "I can't face my parents just yet," he said and Kyoko nodded.

"Well, tomorrow is Saturday, we can try to figure something out," Kyoko said already formulating ideas.

….

….

As Kuu came home, he was curious to see his daughter sitting on the stairs in the hallway staring at a photograph. He wasn't sure why she was just looking at that instead of a computer screen or a book. It wasn't unusual for Katarina to want to sit somewhere high, but she hadn't held a photograph like that since Julie had shown her the wedding photos.

"Hello, angel" Kuu said as he came to sit beside his daughter and his eyes quickly widened as he saw the photograph that she was looking at. This was a picture of Kuon trying to fake happiness. He was wearing black and this was just before Rick's death and his personal defeat. Kuu didn't know when Kuon had lost his happiness. Kuu felt a tug at his heart as he held to the side of the picture.

Katarina looked at her father, "Daddy, is this really my brother?" she asked as Kuu paused. He felt numb inside for a moment, how did she know this? It had been Julie's idea to keep the siblings from each other despite how much he had wanted them both to know.

"How did you…" Kuu asked weakly, the color draining from his face.

"He came to see us," Katarina said as Kuu sat there even more in shock. "He brought a princess," she told him as Kuu quickly managed to translate that into Kyoko coming as well. Why hadn't they called? If they had told him they were coming, he would have tried to break the news rather than it being a complete shock.

"Is he here?" Kuu asked as he looked around, "Did he stay?"

"He was really scared so he ran away. I wish he didn't run, Daddy" the little girl said as her father took her into his arms knowing that it wasn't her fault and he wouldn't expect anything more from Kuon. It might have even looked to his son as if he had been replaced and wasn't even important enough to tell. That was why Kuu had immediately picked up the phone when Julie had told him she was pregnant.

Even if he hadn't come home, at least Kuon would have known.

Katarina interrupted her father from his thoughts as she showed him the picture again. "He looks really sad here," she said, "why does he look so sad?"

"It's because…" Kuu said before hearing Julie's excuse.

"He had some mental problems," Julie said thinking that was the best excuse as Kuu's jaw dropped and he stared at his wife. He had thought that they both loved Kuon, to try to explain it like that didn't seem like love to him. "That's why he had to go to Japan."

"You make it sound like he went insane," Kuu muttered as Julie looked away.

"He did, I mean maybe not insane but he did go berserk, remember how we tried to get him help here and he just played mind games with the therapists," Julie said as Kuu stiffened. He really didn't want those to be the first impressions that Katarina had of her brother. It was true that he had had problems with Kuon at that age, but he wouldn't have explained the violence to someone who had just learned who he was.

"Was he scary?" Katarina asked as Kuu shot Julie a glare.

"No, he was just misunderstood," Kuu bowed his head. "When he was your age, Mommy and Daddy often left him by himself because we thought he could take care of himself. We were so focused on work, but he never told us about how lonely he felt, he's a really good person now. He's a perfect big brother," he said as Katarina nodded.

"I want to meet him," she said as Kuu looked at her with a soft smile.

"I really want to see him again as well," Kuu looked down. Why had Julie said those things? It was very uncharacteristic of her.

….

….

After the two had talked for a little longer, Kyoko had asked Kuon if he would want to spend some time with her and the little girl, Katarina. If the two of them just asked to spend a couple of hours with her then maybe they would get to know one another and they could start a conversation. It would at least give Kuon a chance to make a better first impression.

With the international plan on her cell phone, Kyoko put it on speaker and called the number that Kuon had given her for the Hizuri household. She kissed Kuon's cheek and took his hand as the phone rang. Hopefully this wouldn't cause him any further pain.

As the phone was picked up, Kyoko smiled for a moment as she heard Julie's voice. "Hello, you've reached the Hizuri residence, this is Julienna speaking."

Kyoko looked to Kuon but found that he was looking at the floor and didn't want to say anything yet. She knew she would do the speaking at first until Kuon was confident enough to join in. "Hello Hizuri-chan," Kyoko said in English, "This is Kyoko. We met briefly today."

"Kyoko, I am so sorry for what happened. Is Kuon okay?" she asked and Kyoko looked over to her fiancé, he still wasn't saying anything.

"I think he'll be alright," Kyoko reached out to hold Kuon's hand. "It's a lot to take in. I was actually hoping that we could arrange for Kuon and I to spend a couple of hours looking after Katarina tomorrow. I think Kuon can't face you and Kuu, but I think it's best for the two of them to get to know each other."

Julie took a pained inhale, "Kyoko, I don't think that that would be the right thing to do. We could get together as a family."

Kyoko looked to Kuon and saw him shake his head, "Hizuri-san, I know that Kuon isn't ready to face you or Kuu and I'm sorry about that. He feels as if you lied to him and deceived him and I can't argue against that, but are you really going to keep them apart when they have both just learned about one another."

"Kyoko," Julie commented, "I don't want to put Katarina in danger."

Kyoko blinked in shock, this was completely unexpected. "Why would…she be in danger?" she asked as Kuon looked heartbroken. "Are you scared of me? I know that you don't know me th-"

"I'm scared that Kuon would be a bad influence on her," Julie admitted. "I know it's wrong but I don't know if Kuon is capab-"

Both women were caught off guard by a dark laughing that came from the other person on the call. Kyoko looked to her fiancé and grabbed his hand in an attempt to steady him, but she knew he was breaking inside. "Sorry," Kyoko quickly apologized, "I'll call you back. You've been on speaker phone by the way," she admitted before hanging up and looked over to the blond. "Kuon?" she asked.

"It's useless, all my time as Ren Tsuruga and my parents don't even trust that," he looked down and his body shook which really worried Kyoko. She didn't know how to fix this or make this better for him. She didn't know _how_ Julie could have that impression of him. Sure, she had seen him as Cain Heel and BJ herself and so she knew how violent he could actually get, but she also knew how sweet and kind and understanding he was the majority of the time.

"Let's just enjoy LA," she said as she wrapped her arms around him. She pulled back to see the numb and depressed expression on his face. They were _not_ going to get away with treating their own son this way. She'd have to confront them directly.


	3. Chapter 3 - The Beast

**AN:** After doing some thinking, I decided to use passion as my main draw to write what I write 😊 I hope you enjoy it as well though 😊

 **Chapter Three – The Beast**

Kyoko looked around her as she sat in a very formal manner at the diner. She hadn't been to an actual American diner before and this was an experience she had been looking forward to with Kuon, but sometimes you needed to change your plans despite how much that would mean giving up on expectations. She looked up at Kuu with a fire sparked behind her eyes before looking down again.

"The conversation that I want to have with you isn't the most pleasant, Father. I hope that us being here doesn't…"

"Don't worry about that, the manager here is a family friend," Kuu said trying to smile through it, he saw how unamused Kyoko was. Something must have happened during the few hours between Kuon running from the news and Kyoko meeting him here. "I take it that he's too upset to join us," Kuu said very sadly. He hadn't meant for things to turn out like this.

Kyoko picked up her drink and sipped it slowly, "Do you blame him?"

 _..._

 _Kyoko had had to grab a blanket because of the dark gloom that threatened to rip apart the walls of the hotel room. She hated when Kuon was like this, she hated when she felt as if his pain was tangible and she felt it in her own body. More than the gloom though, she hated the silence._

 _Kyoko slowly went over to her fiancé and knelt on the bed in front of him. "Kuon?" she asked trying to reach out and get to a point where she could talk to him. She slipped her hand over his cheek and ran a thumb over his skin only to get his sad and slightly deadened eyes looking at her. "You feel like taking a walk?" she asked with a weak smile, "We could go down to the ocean. I'm not sure if there's an ocean of mermaids but I'm sure that since I'm older we could find a really good coconut drink."_

 _Kuon shook his head but held onto her hand, he looked down again._

 _More silence._

" _You know, I love your eyes but the emerald color seems to be a bit dimmer than usual," she told him. She took weak breaths, "Kuon, if there is anything that I can do? Anything that I can say?" she sighed and moved into his arms, letting her head rest on his strong chest. "You just keep me updated, Prince Corn," she smiled weakly. She hated how she couldn't make him instantly feel better._

...

Kyoko sighed, "Father," she said in a very formal manner, "Please do not think that I'm here to be an unbiased third party to this, I am on Kuon's side." She watched Kuu looking at her with a weak nod and guilt in his eyes. "I love you, Father, but what you have done to Kuon isn't a good thing. What Julie said about him was…" Kyoko bowed her head with a weak smile.

"I don't know how I would feel if I were to find that I had a secret sibling but since my mother didn't want me anyway," she looked away trying to hold back the pain that rested across her chest whenever she thought about her childhood. However, these days she had learned to train herself that talking about her childhood also included talking about her first meeting with Corn.

"Kyoko," Kuu said as he raised a hand out to her, "I just fol—"

"I would feel replaced," Kyoko said as she turned to look at Kuu. "If you were another person then maybe I would accept that you felt that you already had one problem child and you wanted a do-over, but I thought that Kuon was loved, he cares so deeply for you two but you kept this from him. Don't you see that that shows how little you cared about him."

…..

" _Will you be alright if I go out for about half an hour?" Kyoko asked as she looked at the pile of blankets and sheets that were around Kuon. This reminded her of when they had played the Heel siblings, but this was scarier. She knew the cause for this and she was glad that they were outside of Japan. There was nobody to bother them._

 _She just wished that she could make it better for him. He had been there when her mother had rejected her on national TV years before this, months before they started dating. Now, this man was going to be her husband someday soon and she couldn't help him._

" _Kuon?" she asked, her voice shaking slightly. "Just…if you need me tell me to stay and I won't go. We can just do something else,"_

 _Kuon lifted the blanket off of his head and tried to smile to her, "You can go," he told her with a pained look. "Enjoy yourself, alright?" he asked as he gave her one of those famous gentleman smiles though pain was swimming around in his eyes._

" _I won't be too long," Kyoko promised as she kissed him again. She was scared to leave him, she was even more afraid of letting those negative emotions engulf him again. She needed to at least try to fix things though._

….

"Kyoko, you know how much I love, Kuon" Kuu said as he looked down. "If it were up to me, he would have known the instant that Julie told me the news. I know it would have been stubborn to ask him back here but he would have at least known, but Julie…I love her but," Kuu tried to explain feeling horrible that he was trying to defend himself by talking badly about his wife, the mother to his children.

"I would have guessed it was Julie," Kyoko admitted sadly, "but that doesn't mean that you couldn't have done something. Written Ren Tsuruga fan mail or something, had president explain it to him. I know that the president has known your family for years, he told me that he knew Kuon in diapers when I learned his real name."

Kuu sighed, "I feel terrible about it, Kyoko. I didn't expect for him to just show up one day."

"So, you kept lying because it was more convenient?" Kyoko asked before noticing that Kuu was paying more attention to her hand where she had put on her engagement ring for the trip rather than the food. She took a deep breath in, "Kuon proposed to me about two and a half weeks ago," she admitted, "only three people in Japan know and he was going to talk about his true identity when we told Japan about the fact we're engaged."

"I take it that Boss is one of them?" Kuu asked as Kyoko nodded and looked at her ring with a smile.

"Yes, definitely. However, not even my manager knows. I did tell my best friend about it and asked her to keep it a secret, I can trust Moko and Kuon told his manager. Yashiro is one of our good friends anyway. He's also one of three people, in my knowledge, who know what his real name is." Kyoko smiled as she thought about Yashiro's reaction and how she had begged Kuon to let her be there when he told him, the fangirling inside that car was amusing since it had also been the conversation that the two were moving in together. "The president and I are the other two."

"So, that was why he came back?" Kuu asked as he looked down completely defeated, "I've failed as a father."

"I'd have to give you a D," Kyoko said flatly. She looked into the reflection of the mirror. "Do you feel the same way as Julie-san?" she asked as she looked at her reflection. Kuu paused hesitantly. "She said that she wouldn't have allowed Kuon and I to spend some time with Katarina tomorrow because Kuon's a bad influence and he might put her in danger. I know that in the past, some people who didn't know him might think that way about him, he's told me that, but…" she looked back at the shock and horror on Kuu's face.

"She really sad that?" he twitched weakly. "How could she…" he shook his head quickly. "No. I mean, Kuon's stubborn and he's troubled but I would never say he would be dangerous…unless provoked or threatened by someone who could do damage to him…and I think, from what I've seen of Ren and the video he made, he's a great mentor. Boss even told me about how his granddaughter is taken care of by Ren."

Kyoko allowed a small smile once she realized that somehow this was Julie's thing that had been messed with and Kuu had probably been in shock. Talk about first impressions. Well, she had to feel that there was a reason why Julie was acting this way as sad as it was to admit to.

"Father, I don't approve of what you did and I can't eat because I need to get my fiancé to eat, but I'll try and persuade Kuon to give you another chance. I think that him spending some time with Katarina now doesn't make up for the years that either of them have had to spend apart, but it's better to be late than never." Kyoko took out her phone, "Father, I'll be right back and then maybe we can come up with a plan together," she said in her bold Kyoko manner.

She just needed to play her cards right and show Katarina what an amazing older brother she actually did have,

….

….

Kyoko was happy when she managed to get Kuon out of the hotel bed enough to take a drive to the beach. She had told him how he could have a drink if he wanted and then the two of them would walk along the sea coast and hold hands and he could tell her happy stories about his childhood.

It had made her light up when he agreed to it. He was wearing comfortable jeans and a long sleeved white tee that some designer sold for more money than it was worth. He also had on a blue jacket that went well with the outfit. Despite it being late January, the weather they had already experienced that day had been very hot and much cooler, what you would expect in California.

Kyoko hoped her plan would have worked.

She and Kuu had decided that Kuu would take Katarina to the Disney store which she loved and Kyoko would act like she wanted to go in and see all of the princess items. It wasn't an unusual request for Kyoko to make and Kuon always gave her what she asked for. Hopefully that was a good thing.

As they arrived at the shop, Kyoko led Kuon inside and then saw Kuu giving her a thumbs up from where he was hiding watching his children. Kyoko saw the happiness he had as he saw that Kuon was back in the United States. Hopefully she wouldn't have to stay angry at Kuu for too long.

Kyoko saw Kuon's eyes widen as he saw Katarina staring at all of the dolls on the shelf with a raised eyebrow. Despite his nerves, Kuon took a deep breath in and came towards the six year old.

"Hi," he said trying to use acting to hide his nerves as he squatted beside her, "Sorry to scare you," he said with a weak smile. "We met earlier, you're…"

Katarina looked to her side and then gave out an excited squeak. She turned to where Kuu was and waved at him as Kuon looked up. He gave a sad smile but immediately looked down at the floor. He wasn't ready to face his father just yet.

"You're my big brother, Kuon. That's what Mommy and Daddy said," Katarina said as Kuon nodded. "Daddy says you're smart and good at sports and acting and really kind. He says you're a good person."

Kuon looked down with a weak smile, at least those ideas were in her head already. "Yes, I actually work as an actor in Japan, just like Mom and Dad do here," he said before looking at the princess dolls that Katarina was looking at. "So, which one of these is your favorite? My fiancée loves Cinderella the most," he told her.

"Your fiancée is your girlfriend who agreed to marry you to become a princess, right?" Katarina said, "was it that pretty lady you were with?"

"That's her," Kuon nodded.

"Then she might want a doll too," Katarina smiled and Kuon bowed his head and laughed.

"That actually is a possibility, she adores princesses because she grew up reading fairytales. You know, she has a lot of stories about the fairy kingdom," he told her trying to find something that would be alright to talk to this little girl about. "I think I might have to get her a gift from here," he said as he looked at the dolls. "You know, you look a bit like Aurora," he pointed.

"Her name's Briar Rose," Katarina said in a way that reminded Kuon of a young Kyoko, "but thank you." She looked at the dolls and hummed whilst Kuon looked at her, watching her patiently.

"Which doll do you look like?" she asked as she pointed to the prince dolls. She pointed to one of John Smith, "Him? No."

Kuon shook his head, "Wow, I think that guy might have some more muscle mass than I do. No, I think I look like this," Kuon said as he stood to grab a doll off of the shelf. He showed Katarina a doll of the Beast but still in beast form. "I mean, you can see how similar we are," he tried to joke with her.

Kyoko watched the two of them and then looked over to Kuu with a smile which he returned.

Katarina giggled, "But he becomes the prince," she pointed to the box, "when he's kissed by Belle."

"Okay," Kuon smiled, "So I _used_ to look like him in this form, I really did," he grinned playfully, "but I met my Princess Kyoko and she kissed me and now I look like that form of him."

Katarina giggled and smiled before looking over to see Kyoko and waved at her. Kyoko waved back and then saw Kuon calling her over.

"Kuon just said you were a real princess," she said excitedly. "He also said he'd buy you a biiiig present."

"Oh did he now," Kyoko smiled before looking at her future husband. It was the best gift to see him like this, maybe they did have a shot of having this situation work after all.

 **AN2:**

Thank you so much to Ashenvale, Guest, and Michiyo for reviewing the previous chapters. It really means a lot to me that you took your time to do that, thank you 😊


	4. Chapter 4 - In My Heart

**AN:** Even though this is my third year in a row doing it, working retail on Memorial Day weekend is so exhausting 😊 But I wanted to write something so I really hope you enjoy. I do have reasons for why certain things are happening.

 **Chapter Four - In My Heart**

Kyoko didn't know how she was able to convince Kuu to allow her and Kuon to take care of Katarina the next day despite Julie obviously not wanting it. She had to think that it was most likely due to Kuu trusting the person that Kuon had become. She was also glad that the activity that they were doing was shopping and going out to lunch. This allowed the two of them to talk. If they had gone to a theme park then they might not be able to focus on the siblings getting to know each other because of all the distractions and going to see a movie would detract from the talking as well.

What they needed most was to talk.

Katarina grabbed onto Kyoko's hand, letting go of Kuon's and looked up at the actress. "What's the dirt?" she asked as Kyoko blinked. She looked up at Kuon who appeared confused as well.

"I can't tell you the dirt on the man I'm going to marry," Kyoko laughed weakly. "I've taken an oath of loyalty to Kuon. That's something you have to do with the media following you."

"Oh, like Daddy" Katarina nodded. "He sometimes is followed everywhere," she stretched her arms out after that last part to show Kuu's popularity which made Kuon smile weakly.

"Yep, in Japan, Kuon has exactly that but his name is Ren," she grinned as Kuon nodded.

"Why?" Katarina asked as she looked between the two adults.

"It's a stage name," Kuon tried to explain, "It's so I can keep my personal life and my acting life separate."

"Like a spy?" the six-year-old asked as Kuon nodded slowly.

"Sort of," he tried to answer honestly. "It's like…I really like pretending to be people so that's why I'm an actor. It's like dressing up in costume but I like being someone else when I'm doing it. So, that person like dressing up as other people."

"Soon though, Kuon is going to be brave and tell all of Japan who he is," Kyoko smiled as Katarina stared at them.

"Then why didn't he before?" she asked as Kyoko tensed and looked to Kuon for a reply.

"Well, I was scared. I went to Japan all by myself when I was a teenager. You know how that girl in the accessory store was talking about her sweet sixteen," Kuon tried to explain. He was trying to think of whether Maria would understand these things at six since the little girl who loved putting curses on people was a frame of reference for him.

"Yeah" Katarina nodded. "I want a sweet sixteen. There'll be cake and dresses and makeup and everyone will tell me I'm a princess," she said as she span in a circle and giggled.

Kuon had to smile watching her and he gestured to Kyoko to go and sit down on the nearby bench. "Well, I left Japan _before_ I was sixteen so I was a bit older than you but still young. It was scary being in a foreign country by myself," he said as he and Kyoko sat with Katarina in the middle of them.

"Why did you go then?" Katarina asked innocently.

Kyoko reached out and held Kuon's hand to try to support him. She knew the story but she also knew that Kuon wouldn't explain it to a child.

"It was scarier being here," Kuon said, "I felt really guilty about a mistake I made so I ran away."

"Oh like when I wanted to run away because I ate some of Mommy's and Daddy's special anniversary cake?" Katarina said. "I was scared but Daddy just gave me a big hug and made it better."

Kuon nodded, "Yes, something like that. Daddy tried to make me feel better too but it didn't work so I ran away to Japan and pretended to be someone else. I spent some sad years there but after about four years, I was able to meet Kyoko and she helped me feel better."

"So, she fell in love at first sight?" Katarina asked before both adults laughed softly.

"She hated me," Kuon said, "but then she gave me a second chance and after some time she agreed to be my princess."

"I only _hated_ you because you hated me first," Kyoko stuck her tongue out at her fiancé. "Plus you were in your pretend mode so if I had known you were actually Corn, I would have been overjoyed."

Katarina smiled, having heard 'Kuon' instead of 'Corn'. "Why?"

"Well, we met first when we were kids," Kuon tried to explain, "Actually Kyoko was your age when we met and we had a lot of fun together but since that only happened when I was on vacation, I had to go home. I still really treasured my friendship with her."

"Yes, some of my favorite memories from my childhood were with your brother despite how short a time it was. I'm sure that you enjoy your times with your friends," Kyoko said as Katarina nodded, "and you'd really miss them if they left but you'd remember them in your heart, right?"

"Yes," Katarina nodded, "because I love my friends," she grinned.

"Exactly," Kyoko nodded. "You want to hear something about your brother over here?" she said as Katarina nodded, "Well, don't tell him I said this, but he's kind and understanding and caring. He's very intelligent too so when I have a question I come to him. He's my favorite person in the whoooole world. When I get scared, he gives me warm hugs. When I feel sad, he tells me I'm beautiful and that he loves me. He keeps me safe and happy and feeling beautiful every day. That's why I want to marry him, but that'll be our secret," Kyoko winked.

"Can't Kuon hear you?" Katarina asked as Kuon acted as if he had been distracted by something.

"Huh? Were you talking about me? I didn't hear a word you said," he smiled before mouthing a 'thank you' to Kyoko who nodded.

Katarina smiled and then nodded as she looked at Kyoko, "I think so too," she said as Kuon smiled happily and Kyoko caught that dazzling smile. As hard as it was for Kuon to acknowledge the fact that he did have a younger sister, at least she felt positive feelings towards him and had a positive opinion.

"So, how about we get some lunch at that burger place?" Kuon asked as Katarina nodded excitedly.

"I love hamburger!" she said as Kyoko nodded.

"Me too," she stood and saw Kuon holding Katarina's hand so walked to the other side of him. She slipped her hand into his and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Hopefully this day would end as well as it was going at this moment.

….

….

Kyoko smiled as she drove Katarina back to the Hizuri house. Due to how he felt unwanted, Kuon had decided to make his own way back to their hotel room. Kyoko had tried to argue against this, saying she could drop him off first, but he had told her not to worry. So, here she was with four shopping bags in the car, taking the girl back to the house.

Kuu had given her clearance to enter the property.

As she stood on the doorstep, she heard someone open the door and smiled seeing it was Kuu. She grinned as she put a hand on Katarina's shoulder. "Hey, thanks for letting us hang out with her, Father," she said happily as she saw Kuu look around her in case Kuon was there.

"Has Kuon gone back to your hotel room?" Kuu asked as Kyoko raised an eyebrow.

"Can you blame him?" she challenged the man before seeing the excitement that was on Katarina's face.

"Daddy! Kuon is really cool! We talked for a long time and I told him everything" she grinned happily. "He's really really nice like you said."

Kuu nodded, "Does that mean you had a good time with Kuon and Kyoko today?"

Katarina nodded eagerly, "He listened to all my stories and he told me about him and Kyoko. He's sooo cool and sweet and caring. Can we invite him over tonight?" she asked as Kyoko hesitated. She didn't want to even discuss how depressed Kuon was about the fact that his parents had lied to him for seven years.

"Maybe another night…" she said awkwardly as Kuu nodded. It was true that Kuon really did not want to see them. Katarina nodded and looked a little disappointed as she did so so Kyoko knelt down so they could be more level with each other. "Hey, even though we can't come over tonight, I know that Kuon is really glad that he got to meet you and spend the day with you today. I'm glad to have made a new friend too, but I think Kuon is really happy to know he has such an amazing little sister."

Katarina's eyes lit up, "Really? I'm really happy to meet him too," she said before looking down. "How do you know all of that?"

"Well, you know how different people know different things, like I'm sure that some of your teachers are experts on different things like math and spelling and science," Katarina nodded as she listened to Kyoko. Kyoko placed a hand on her heart, "I am the expert on Kuon. I know him inside and out and I know that he loved meeting you. You can tell it in his eyes."

Katarina smiled wide, "Is it because you looove him so much?" she teased a little and Kyoko nodded without hesitation.

"Yes. I know all about Kuon, every inch of his body and soul because of how much I love him. I'm not someone who loves just anyone. They have to be really special and Kuon is just the right type of special." Kyoko grinned. She saw Kuu looking at her.

"You know every inch of his body?" he asked and Kyoko nodded.

"Kuon is really a very gentle person and he makes me feel loved and safe," Kyoko said although her eyes were telling Kuu she knew exactly what she was saying. She sometimes hated to admit that she was impure, but the safety and security that Kuon made her feel every time was something that only increased her love for him."

"Can you tell him I had fun today?" Katarina asked not getting what Kyoko was really saying.

"I will do just that," Kyoko smiled, "We hope to see you soon, Katarina, but if we don't please know that you are going to have a sister in law who adores you and you have a brother right now who loves you too."

Katarina smiled before looking up at her dad.

"Kyoko, did you want to come in and have something to eat or drink?" he offered but the auburn haired woman shook her head and then allowed herself to smile.

"Father, I really appreciate today. It was good for everyone, but I need to get back to my fiancé. I love him and I want to spend all the time I can with him right now, however…Kuon told me that he was only able to get his passport and not much else when the president came to take him to Japan. Is there anything that is of great sentimental value to him that I can give to him?" Kyoko asked. She didn't want to leave Kuon on his own for too long, but if there was something from his past that would make him smile, she wanted to be able to give it to him.

Kuu nodded, "there are a few things that I can think of," he said, "Did you want to come in or…"

"Could you just give me them?" Kyoko asked and Kuu nodded as he left and Kyoko started talking to Katarina more. Kuu arrived with a bag of items.

Kyoko looked through it, she wasn't sure of the importance of them but there was an external hard drive, an old teddy bear, two very old journals, a knitted blanket, and a small black bag. She looked at them and nodded. Hopefully Kuon would tell her their importance when she returned to the hotel.

 **AN:** Thank you to the reviewers of the previous chapter, again it really makes me smile and feel excited when I receive reviews, so thank you

Ashenvale, ladygraywolf, Michiyo, sara, and ValkyrieDefender


	5. Chapter 5 - Reflections of the Past

**AN:** Thank you for reading. I really hope you enjoy this chapter 😊 I might not be able to update this fic for a little bit so I'm very thankful for your support. I'm going to be focusing on Secrets, The Voice, and The Lake in the Park (and maybe Young at Heart) until I manage to get my school work under control 😊 but I promise to try to update as soon as I can. Hope you enjoy!

 **Chapter Five – Reflections of the Past**

Katarina smiled excitedly as she energetically talked about how much fun it had been with Kuon and Kyoko. She wanted her parents to really see the day that she had had with them. "You know, Kuon is really wise. He was telling me that I should get to know myself and then I can get to know how I want to be treated and limits and that it's okay to say no if you feel any kind of pressure."

Kuu smiled, "Well, Kuon's had a lot of experience so he's gotten wise from that. He's right though, it's always best to politely decline if you don't feel like doing something," he said with a thumbs up as they sat around the dinner table.

"Well when it's your friends, with us, you can ask but it doesn't mean you get an escape option," Julie teased Katarina and Kuu smiled thoughtfully.

"Aww, I thought that it would work well," the six year old grinned. She looked at her hand, "Kuon kept staring at his hand and he said something about when you fall down you can use the experience to make you a better person."

"Well, he's not the best role model," Julie said awkwardly as she shifted in her seat. She hated saying bad things about Kuon but she wanted to be honest. She didn't want Kuon to lead Katarina away on a road where she couldn't follow, she had already given up one child she wouldn't give up her daughter as well.

Kuu closed his eyes, anger obviously flowing through him for a moment before he bowed his head. "Let's not think on those things any longer," he said as Katarina tilted her head to the side.

"Dad, you agree that Kuon is really cool, right?" Katarina asked as she happily ate dinner with her parents, "He's like a superhero."

"Kuon is definitely cool," Kuu said with a smile, "I really do hope that you get to spend more time with him and Kyoko whilst they are here. I think that it's really good for you two to know each other."

Julie nodded, "Yes, as long as Kyoko's there," she said and Kuu sighed. He knew that Julie's fears were rooted to the idea that Katarina might get taken away from them and that she couldn't live with another heartbreak but lashing out at Kuon wasn't helping. If only he had been able to spend a little more time with his son then maybe he wouldn't have ended up the way he did. Maybe he would have found peace within himself sooner.

It had been _years_ since he had been the wild fifteen-year-old, almost a full decade and still his sins were following him around. He trusted Kuon, he just couldn't believe that Julie didn't. Had all of her missing Kuon led to her rejection of him.

"Is…Kuon dangerous?" Katarina asked her mother as Kuu's eyes widened.

Julie looked away, "I don't know how to answer that. I don't want you alone with him."

"He's definitely not dangerous, how about I show you some of the acting rolls that he's done over the past years. He's incredibly talented," Kuu said proudly. He didn't know how to convince Julie that Kuon was trying to take steps to get to know his sister. Through him finding out more about Katarina it would allow him and Julie to find out more about the current Kuon and not the one that they hadn't been able to help.

"Yea," Katarina smiled happily.

….

….

Kyoko smiled as she saw Kuon sitting on the side of the bed with his legs stretched out in the hotel room. She came towards him with the bag of items that Kuu had given her. She felt proud of herself that she had asked Kuu for things that were important from Kuon's past and hopefully he would find some comfort in them. She had no idea what was wrong with Julie.

"You have really long legs," she smiled as she came in and Kuon looked up at her.

"Is that a problem?" he joked back and Kyoko shook her head.

"Only when I try and kiss you, I guess that's my fault for falling in love with someone who there's such a height difference with," she said, "but in bed I can curl up and know that your body is always there." Kyoko blushed a little as she said that. Sometimes she was reminded of how she was with Shoutaro just from her own behavior with Kuon, but she also knew how much Kuon respected her independence and supported her decisions. Shoutaro never gave _her_ much consideration.

"How about I lift you up?" Kuon teased before looking at the items she was holding. "I can't believe it," he grinned as Kyoko looked down at the items and nodded.

"I asked Father for some items that had a lot of sentimental value to you and this is what he brought me, but I'm not sure what it all is," she said as Kuon took the bag and started to place the items on the bed.

"Did you want me to tell you about them?" he asked and Kyoko grinned.

"Of course I want you to tell me about them, I don't have much from my own family but I want to know more about the man that I'm going to marry," she sat on the bed with him and kissed his cheek as she looked at the items. She had so many questions.

"First of all, until I get to a computer, I'm not sure what this is," Kuon said as he picked up the external drive. "If I had to guess it would be everything I ever left on a computer which means pictures, music, that kind of thing." Kyoko nodded, she would have to get Kuon to show her those later, she wanted to see pictures of a younger Kuon _especially_ those from when he was ten.

"These journals," Kuon smiled as he picked them up, "Were left to me by my grandfather on my dad's side in his will. When I was a kid, he would show me them and tell me how he had learned different life lessons during and after the war. It talks about all the hardships that he had and how he had overcome them. Originally my father was going to have them, but my grandfather left these two to me. I guess he wanted me to remember the real him."

Kyoko nodded with a smile, she took Kuon's hand in hers and squeezed it. She didn't have anything precious like that to remind her of her grandparents, she didn't even really know her grandparents, but something with the value of what Kuon was describing really inspired her. Maybe she could get Kuon to write something like that if they were to ever have kids.

"This teddy bear," Kuon continued, "Is the first gift my parents gave me. They told me that they had picked it out before I was born and I got attached to him when I was young and couldn't sleep without him. The blanket was made by my grandmother on my mother's side from when I was a baby. She passed away when I was a toddler so I never really had a chance to know her, but my mother said she took great pride in knowing she could keep me safe and warm."

Kyoko curled in closer to her fiance, there were so many memories attached to these items and she was glad that Kuu had picked them out. It just went to show how much he knew Kuon and how much he cared about him. These weren't meaningless items, in fact, the meaningfulness of these items made her see her future husband as the man she loves.

Kyoko saw Kuon reach out for the black bag, his eyes showed a little bit of confusion before he opened it. He paused as he took out a silver chain with a shell on it. It didn't look that expensive, but the way that Kuon was looking at it told Kyoko that it was more than met the eye. Something about this was making it very valuable and she looked at Kuon wanting to find out more.

"What is it?" she asked and Kuon bowed his head.

"It's from my dad. I'm…" Kuon shook his head unable to really tell Kyoko the meaning of it. Was it _that_ important?

"I'm glad you have these items," Kyoko smiled. It wasn't right to pressure him if he didn't want to tell her. She picked up the bear and held it imagining a baby Kuon. She wished that the trip had gone differently. She had expected to be staying in the Hizuri house and for Julie to be showing her pictures of Kuon as a baby rather than them being separated from them in a hotel room.

Still, her fiancé had just found out something that people he loved and had trusted hadn't told him. News of a secret sibling.

It was for the best that they could just talk away from the cause of this grief. Kyoko held Kuon's hand again. "You're lucky to have so many important people in your life," she told him as he looked down with mixed emotions.

"I'm not sure if they are in my life anymore," he admitted as Kyoko stared at the ceiling.

"You have to have hope that all of this will work out in the end," she said with a kiss to his cheek. "After all, I swore never to love again and I've never been more in love. I promised myself never to be one of those stupid girls who let love control them and yet, when I'm with you, sometimes I can't stop my heart from pounding so loudly I'm afraid it'll burst out my chest. I love you, Kuon and I know that you'll be able to forgive your parents in time because that's the person that you are."

Kuon laughed, "When I was a teenager, I never thought I'd find someone like you," he told her as he let his hand rest against her cheek. He carefully put the items in the bag that they were given in and set it against the wall. "Will you allow me to show you how much I care for you tonight?" he asked and Kyoko smiled as she looked down.

Her cheeks turned slightly red and she nodded. "You know, you might not be a bad influence on Katarina, but you've definitely taken away my feminine purity and innocence," she smiled as she saw him take off his shirt and she reached over to touch his chest, letting her fingers spread against the muscles and then knelt up on the bed.

"Do you remember what you taught me?" she asked as she pulled him in closer and started sucking on his neck. She smiled as she managed to place her mark on his skin. "Now even Setsu would know that you don't belong to anyone else," she teased and Kuon slid his hands under her shirt and leaned her back.

"Come on, the emperor of the night is going to make you feel like the princess that you are," he said as Kyoko touched his cheek.

She hated it that the Hizuri family had seemed to cause Kuon to feel like an outcast, but she would always be willing to claim him. They were missing out on knowing an incredible person who had learned from his mistakes and used his past to create a wonderful future. She had always been nervous about the intimacies of love, but Kuon made her feel special as well as safe and loved.

She was extremely grateful that he was her fairy prince.

 **AN 2:** Thank you to those who reviewed the previous chapter: **brennakai** and **Michiyo**


	6. Chapter 6 - The Patriarch

**AN:** Thank you for your patience when it came to the update. I have a lot going on right now but have been trying to update my fics 😊 I really hope you enjoy.

 **Chapter Six – The Patriarch**

Kuon was getting a coffee from the Starbucks that was near the hotel. He had asked Kyoko if he could have some alone time that morning and she had hesitantly agreed. She was still worried for him. She hated to admit it, but one time, after she and Kuon had been dating for a little bit, Lory asked to see her. She had gone to see him and sat down as he told her something that he probably had no right to. However, what he had said to her, Kyoko had also had suspicion of.

Kuon had only learned later that that day the president had told her that he suspected him, Kuon, of having some depression issues and he was worried it might lead to self injury. Despite not showing any sign of self-harm, it was always a nagging feeling at the back of Kyoko's head after that meeting. Kuon had seen it now but then, in this situation, who could really tell what would happen.

Was he that hurt by his parents lying to him that he would harm himself? Honestly, he had no idea.

He had never thought of doing so before, but this time maybe it took more than a fast ride in a car or music to calm him down. He hated to admit it, but this pain was one hundred times worse than the fear he had over being replaced in Dark Moon. He just didn't want his fiancée to see him so down and depressed. He didn't want to do anything to jeopardize their future together. He had thought before that he would be understood but as someone discarded by his own parents he had had his entire thoughts about the world shift dramatically.

As he stood lost in thought, he heard the barista call out the name Hizuri and smiled as he approached to grab the coffee. As his hand slipped onto it, he paused feeling another person take it. "I think that's Hizu—" Kuon said before looking up to see Kuu standing there with sunglasses on. He pulled back but so did Kuu. The older actor slipped his sunglasses off and smiled at his son.

"Hey," he said, "It's good to see you…"

"This is a…I think this is the drink that Kyoko asked me to get for her," Kuon said as he looked at it to see that it was a vanilla latte. Kuu nodded as he saw Kuon put a plug in it to keep the heat in. "I have another coffee and then I have to…"

"I never wanted to lie to you," Kuu said as Kuon took a closer look to see if they were making his black coffee.

"It's fine, I just need to get my coffee and go," Kuon said as he tried to avoid the conversation with his father. He could see the way that Kuu was watching him and not even paying attention to what drink came next.

"Can we please just talk? Did you drive down here?" he asked and Kuon sighed. He shook his head knowing where the conversation was leading.

"It's fine, I walked here and I'll walk back, the hotel isn't far away. We did rent a car but I needed the exer-" Kuon said as Kuu tried to put a hand on his shoulder.

"Kuon, I would really appreciate it if I could give you a ride back. I don't know how to apologize to you, but I know that I want you to remain a part of our family. You're my son and I didn't want to ever cause you to feel that you're not included, you are a very important member of our family," Kuu struggled to stress to him but as soon as Kuon had his hand on the second coffee, he turned away.

"I'm fine, enjoy your coffee," Kuon told him without making eye contact. He couldn't breathe and he just hoped that his father wasn't going to follow him. Seeing the sad and heartbroken expression on his dad's face and the regret in his eyes Kuon took another deep breath in. "Where's the location for the shoot?" he asked his dad knowing him too well.

"It's on Laguna Beach, it's a summer blockbuster set to come out next year," Kuu said and Kuon nodded.

"Is there still that really good seafood restaurant where you convinced me to try crab salad for the first time?" Kuon asked and Kuu nodded. "Call Kyoko when you're done with the shoot and we'll come eat with you. I don't want to talk without her present."

Kuu nodded, "Of course. I'll call her," he said and Kuon looked down.

"Alright, that should be fine," he told him as he saw Kuu smile in relief, maybe they could patch things together after all.

….

….

Kyoko stretched her arms out wide as she stood with her bare feet in the sand on the beach, she stared out onto the sea and then heard a couple of clicks behind her. She paused and turned back to Kuon who was taking pictures of her with a digital camera he had bought. He had been asked by a couple of interviewers over the years why he simply didn't take pictures with his phone like other celebrities.

Then when they had focused on it, they had found that most of the time that _was_ how Kuon or Ren had taken photos _apart from_ when he was with Kyoko. She was the subject of his photography and he had even developed pictures of her in a professional way so that he could have them on his desk or other important places.

He had noticed that Kyoko was more fond of pictures of the two of them however and she would – as she was doing now – make sure that he had plenty of pictures of the two of them as a couple.

This time, as Kyoko handed back the camera she had 'borrowed' from him, she held onto Kuon's hand. "Are you sure you're ready? I mean, if you feel that you can't face him maybe it's better if you didn't," Kyoko sighed. She didn't quite know what to say but she really wanted the Hizuris to learn to come together again.

She wasn't in charge of that though. It was Kuon and Kuu who had to learn how to handle one another.

As they stood there, Kyoko heard the sound of someone approaching them and turned to see Kuu there dressed up as a police officer. Kyoko grinned as she dropped instinctively into a bow before looking up. "Fa-Kuu-sama," she said after looking back at Kuon and deciding that she wanted to respect his feelings. "You look really good as an officer, Kuon's played police characters before but not in America so he hasn't worn the US uniform."

"It's not too different," Kuon said before looking at the shoot, he stared at his feet so he wouldn't make eye contact with his dad. "We managed to see a little bit of what you were working on, it was good."

"That's because you're a wonderful actor, Kuu-sama," Kyoko grinned before seeing the guilty way in which Kuu was standing in front of his own child. She knew that there would be tension between the two of them, but she was proud that Kuon was at least making an attempt to open the channels of communication between the two of them.

"Yes, it's a trait that Kuon has too," Kuu said as Kuon shifted awkwardly.

"Thank you," he said as he still attempted to avoid eye contact. Kyoko walked over to him and held his hand, she squeezed it slightly in sign of her being with him for support.

"I have to go get changed since the shoot's over, I'll be back as soon as possible," he said and Kuon nodded stiffly. Kyoko smiled and nodded trying to ease the atmosphere. "Kuon," Kuu said as he looked at his son, "Thank you for giving me a chance," he said to which Kuon nodded silently again.

Once Kuu had left Kyoko stood in front of her fiancé. "I'm proud of you," she told him as she reached up to put a hand on his cheek. "I know how hard this is on you. I'm so happy that you're trying to open your heart up to your dad. I really don't think he meant to hurt you, it's just…"

"Kyoko," Kuon said softly, "I love you, but please don't try to justify my father's actions. I want to hear it from him, not from you." He paused wondering if those words had been too harsh, "I do love how much you care about us though."

"Kuon, I don't want to be angry at your dad, but I am on your side. If you want to leave right now, we can do so. I'm on your side," she told him but saw him shake his head and let out a long sigh.

"I'd like to see what he has to say about all of this," he said honestly as Kyoko nodded.

….

….

Kyoko smiled as the salads were served to the table, Kuon and Kuu still hadn't said much to each other. Kyoko could see how hard Kuu was trying to spark up a conversation with his son, but each time Kuon would give a short answer and deflect it. This wasn't good. For the two of them not to be speaking much to each other made Kyoko feel that they might never address the main subject.

"So," Kuon said as he took a sip of water, "Who's in charge of the Christmas cards?"

Kyoko looked up and then between her fiancé and the man she already felt was her father. She took a bite of her salad in case she needed to jump into the middle of the conversation soon. She wanted to eat when she could but she also knew she needed to play the role of the mediator.

"That would be your mother," Kuu said and Kyoko looked down. She had always thought highly of Julie-san from the way that both Kuon and Kuu had spoken about her. She had always felt that Julie represented what a mother _should_ be but with the complications and everything that had been going on these past few days, she wasn't sure what type of Christmas card that Julie would send out. She probably hadn't signed Kuon's name if she had written them and then how would that feel.

"And she still does the what's new in the Hizuri family?" Kuon asked as he moved a tomato from one side of his plate to the other. Kyoko looked at Kuu and saw the guilt on his face. This was leading to dangerous territory and somehow it felt that Kuon had picked up on that even before he had asked the question.

"She does, the three parts," Kuu said and Kuon rolled his eyes.

"Let me guess, for the past half-decade I haven't been included?" he asked as Kuu shifted and looked at Kyoko as if she knew the right way of giving an explanation. Kuu wasn't sure how to handle this.

"I always tell all of my colleagues about the work that you're doing, I tell our relatives to and I show them the pages of the Japanese magazines that I can get my hands on. There's a Japanese bookstore and they know me because I have a subscription to all the newspapers and magazines for Japanese celebrities. If there's been access to it in America, I have it," Kuu said and Kuon looked down.

"And yet, you decide that I'm better off as a stranger in the home that I grew up in. I'm no longer part of your family so why are you trying so hard to shove me into a place that has so obviously rejected me?" Kuon took a deep breath before standing up, "This was a mistake," he said as he pulled out his wallet and dropped a fifty dollar bill on the table. "That should cover the food we ordered," he told them as Kyoko got to her feet too. She didn't want to leave, she felt there was so much more that they could talk about but she promised Kuon she would follow his lead.

Kuu however looked up at him, "Kuon please just sit. I can show you the emails I've written to family members, to work connections. I talk about my son as much as I can, I collect everything that has been written about you. Kuon, I understand that right now you feel betrayed by both your mother and I, but please trust me that you have always been and always will be my son and I'm not ashamed to say that."

Kuon looked back at his father nervously. He didn't know whether to sit down again or storm out. Maybe his father was telling the truth and there was more going on than he thought. He only knew that he could only find out if he sat down again. He wasn't sure he was ready to do so.

 **AN 2:**

Again thank you to everyone who supports this fic, it means a lot to me. Special shout outs to **brennakai, Crazy4Animation, DreamIdol,** and **Michiyo** all of who reviewed the previous chapter, thank you 😊


	7. Chapter 7 - Lunch and Dinner

**AN:** This chapter is a little shorter than my goal but I thought the end was at a good place 😊 I really hope you enjoy this chapter. I will be explaining Julie's fear soon and it's not straightforward at all 😊

 **Chapter Seven – Lunch and Dinner**

Kuon paused where he stood, he looked down at the table and at the salads on the plates as he saw Kyoko offer an apologetic look towards Kuu. However, as he stood there time seemed to slow and he sat down again, trying to keep his breaths steady. He looked across at his father who had a weak and surprised smile on his face.

"I'm not promising that I _won't_ leave," he said quickly, "I just…there are more important things for us to discuss."

Kuu nodded slowly before smiling again, "Thank you," he told his son with his gratitude flowing out of him. He took another deep breath in before looking down. "Should we just start from where we-"

"Do you love me?" Kuon asked and Kuu blinked before nodding weakly.

"Kuon, the question of our love fo-" Kuu said immediately but Kuon shook his head.

"Could you stop talking as a we, Dad?" he asked before looking down. "Do you even care about me anymore?"

Kuu sighed and then looked down, "More than anything I care about the health, happiness, and wellbeing of my two biological children," he admitted. Kuon looked up. "I can see what you feel. I can see that you're thinking, I'm replaceable to my family but you're not. I…" Kuu stared down before pulling out his phone. He switched it to his email and then showed Kuon a few messages from around the time that Kuu found out he was going to be a father again,

 _Boss. I don't know what to do. I am so excited to be becoming a father again and I know that this time I won't make the same mistakes I did. Please could you grant me access to see Ku-Ren just so I can tell him the news. I want to tell him in person even though Julie's afraid of it all happening again. If you can, can you give me some advice on how to make it so she's not afraid?_

 _Boss, I appreciate your warning on telling Kuon, but this is going to be his sister and she's going to be born in less than a month. If I could just get Kuon's phone number so I can tell him or maybe even if you could pass the message on. I know that Kuon, or Ren, as you call him won't break from hearing the news. Don't side with Julie on this, I think Kuon deserves the right to know._

 _Dear Mr. Tsuruga,_

 _I wanted to congratulate you on the birth of your you-_

 _Kuon, I know you don't want to hear from me when your still trying to live as Tsuruga Ren but you've got a little sister. It would be great if you wou-_

Kuon studied the last two with a weak smile, pain in his eyes. "You never sent these," he said. He put his finger on them seeing that they were email accounts he hadn't been checking either because they had been associated with Kuon rather than Ren. Still, it told him the truth, it told him that his father had at least had the intentions to tell him.

"I tried to have Boss tell you," Kuu said as he looked down at his food, "I thought that even if I couldn't be the one to give you the news, that you'd know and you'd still feel part of the family. He thought that it would mess with your head and that you would lose the work you had already done at that point to recreate yourself. He said that something like a birth or a death wasn't important enough to derail you when you were still at a point where you could break."

Kuon nodded, "I still feel that I deserve to have known."

"I agree," Kuu nodded, "but on the other hand Julie was afraid that by you being an influence on a second child somehow not only would she have lost you to the darkness, but the second child too, our Katarina would get pulled in and have to be taken away from her."

"So, you think that I would have hurt her. You think that when I was younger, I would have hurt her," Kuon said and Kuu shook his head.

"I know that you'd never hurt a baby especially family, Kuon, but your mother. What happened – the aftermath of what happened, she hadn't expected you to crumble, she had never planned on you leaving and it was the right decision despite how wrong it felt at the time. Still, to lose something that precious…Julie didn't want to ever make it possible for it to happen again," Kuu sighed as he looked down. "I just wanted to make her happy and I didn't have the heart to hurt her again."

"And if I honestly said that I don't want to be a part of your family and I'm happy going back to Japan and pretending that Kuon Hizuri never existed?" Kuon asked as he saw his father's heartbreak.

"If that's what you need to be happy, I'm not going to stop you but you might have to hear about my funeral since that will kill me," Kuu said as Kuon looked down. "All I want is you happy, Kuon and I deeply apologize that you feel this way, that we – that I made you feel this way."

"I don't forgive you," Kuon looked down, "I'm not that strong of a person or that good of a person, but I do understand. I'd like us both to try," he looked at his father, "If you can include me in your family I'd love to try to be a part of it again."

Kyoko smiled hearing this from where she had been sitting, eating, and just observing the two of them. She squeezed Kuon's hand and grinned up to him, "I'm proud of you," she smiled as she saw Kuu smile in gratitude as well.

"How about tomorrow you come eat with us?" Kuu asked the two of them and Kuon nodded silently. He was terrified of approaching his mother again. He wondered if she was more scared of him or if he was the one who was most terrified of her rejection.

…..

…..

Katarina was so excited, her father had said that her older brother would be eating dinner with them that day and she had now been excited for a full day. She had put on a very cute white blouse and pink and brown plaid skirt and had been on her best behavior. She was really excited to get to know more about this mysterious person who she hadn't been told about before.

Her daddy really liked him.

Hearing the door, Katarina looked up from where she was playing with her princess dolls and skipped off to the front door. She waited as her father came to get it and as soon as the door clicked open she felt her mother take her arm and pull her into the kitchen.

"Mama?" she asked confused as she looked at her mother who appeared very serious. "Did I do something bad?" she said confused but Julie shook her head.

She closed her eyes and hugged Katarina close, "No, you didn't. You're my perfect little girl, I just needed another hug before you see your older brother. Whatever he says, you know that violence and guns are wrong, right?" she asked and Katarina tilted her head to the side.

"Yeah! But Kuon doesn't talk about those things, he mainly talks about fun dates that he and Kyoko have been on and how much he loves acting and reading and how he likes nature. He doesn't talk about those things and he told me I'm too young," Katarina tried to tell her mother.

"If he tries to give you a gun then you're-" Julie began only to hear Kuon ask in a very disturbed voice.

"Am I passing out guns now, mother?" he asked. Kuon looked aside, pissed off and not really understanding why his mother was trying to drag his name across the dirty blood stained ground. "That's a shock since I never even used one of them myself, well off set anyway."

Kyoko sighed before dropping into a bow, "Hello, Hizuri-san," she said before looking at Katarina, "Hey," she grinned to the little girl. She paused and looked at Julie with a challenge in her eyes but put on a Tsuruga-style smile. "Kuon has shot me with a gun before," she said before smiling, "A water gun."

Kuon rolled his eyes, "I believe it was one time and it was you who Maria had given it to. I think Maria told you to shoot people who might come and steal me, a Ren Tsuruga security device," he said before taking a deep breath in and pulling something out of his bag. It was an expensive bottle of white wine and he also had a Tinkerbell plush toy. "Dad said that white wine would go better than red with -"

"We already have wine," Julie said as she studied her son. She looked down feeling guilty and humiliated with how she had treated her only son. However, it looked as if she was trying to avoid eye contact with Kuon because of how much _she_ didn't want to look at him.

"This one looks more promising than the one we have, it was really nice for you to buy it for us," Kuu said quickly as he tried to play the mediator. He looked to Kyoko for help.

"I'm really looking forward to our meal. I've only tried a few things whilst we've been here, Father always talks about how much he loves cooking. What I've tasted from him so far has been amazing," Kyoko nodded as Kuu smiled back at her and then everyone looked at the mother and son who struggled to find something to talk about.

"Kuon, come I want you to watch the movie with me," Katarina said as she took his hand and Kuon blinked.

"Uh, sure," he said caught off guard by her. He let the little girl pull him into the room where there was the TV and Kuon noticed things that had always been there as well as things that were new. He paused before feeling his heart break as he saw a photo of Julie, Kuu, and Katarina where a picture of him and his parents used to hang.

"Kuon?" Katarina asked before Kuon shook off his bad feelings and smiled at her.

"What are we watching?" he asked as Katarina turned on the TV which showed a kid's show that Kuon had once appeared on as Ren Tsuruga. "You found this."

"Daddy had it in his files," Katarina grinned, "He has all kinds of things that you're on. He and Mama watch them, they see how strong you're getting. I'm not allowed to watch The Dark Moon," she told them as Kuon looked at Kyoko who was standing in the doorway watching them.

"So, let's watch it," Kuon said as he sat down on the floor and was surprised when Katarina sat in his lap. She looked back at him to see if it was okay that she had sat there. Kuon grinned and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close as they watched the show together.

 **AN2:**

Thank you for your support everyone 😊 Special shout out to my reviewers of the previous chapter: **brennakai, Crazy4Animation, DreamIdol, and ktoll9**. I'm also planning on working on an original novel that I've been thinking about for three years now 😊 I'm super excited.


	8. Chapter 8 - Loving Interference

**AN:** Thank you for all of your patience with these updates, it's super hot in California and sometimes I fear the heat is going to eat me up 😊 I hope you enjoy this chapter though.

 **Chapter Eight – Loving Interference**

Kyoko took a deep breath in and stepped into the kitchen where Julie and Kuu were cooking together. She noticed that they weren't really saying much to one another and she wondered if this was a common thing. When she had cooked with Kuu on the last day of the first time she had met him, he had been joyful and shown a lot of heart in his chopping techniques. They had spent a memorable time making that meal together. Kuu didn't look that way now.

"Excuse me," Kyoko said as she tapped on the side of the door, "Is there anything that I can help with?"

"Hey," Kuu smiled to her, "Kyoko, you're such a sweet girl but I've got it. I don't want to make our guest work."

"I'd like to have a chance to help out," Kyoko grinned. "I mean, I know this isn't my house but didn't you say, father, that it's always more fun to cook together than to cook alone. I've heard about how much fun the two of you had making meals for Kuon when he was small. I hoped that -"

"Katarina's okay, isn't she?" Julie asked and Kyoko flinched slightly. She should have been expecting that.

"They are just fine, they watched a TV show and now Katarina is telling Kuon some stories. I think they'll be okay." She watched as Julie's face paled and she tried to remind herself that Julie was not her mother and this was not her childhood. Still, she loved Kuon and to think of Corn's mother seeing him this way, well it broke her heart.

"Are you sure that he's not telling her about the Yakuza?" Julie asked as Kuu looked at her as if she was insane.

"Kuon's not part of the Yakuza," Kyoko said as she tried not to glare at the mother of her future-husband. She sighed, "I don't even think he's ever really been _in_ a gang" she smiled. She knew that she was being too familiar with them and usually she'd try to play as a good hostess, but maybe she could be a mediator. Even the president had told her that she knew Kuon better than anyone, maybe she could convince Julie that he had changed only in positive ways.

"You know…" Kyoko tried to smile as she reflected on her past with Kuon. "When Kuon was shooting Dark Moon, he had to do this car scene and there was this little boy who ran out when the cars were doing dangerous tricks and spins and Kuon and the other car managed to avoid this tiny little boy. I know that there were other things inside his head, but Kuon would have really been hurt had he caused damage to that family despite it being an accident. The thing is that I'm more concerned about Kuon hurting himself than _ever_ purposefully hurting anyone else."

"Kyoko…" Kuu said hesitantly, he knew that all Kyoko wanted to do was stand up for his son but he didn't want to increase the tension in the room.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Hizuri-san," Kyoko told Julie as she tried to stand in a respectful manner. "Sometimes, I do worry about Kuon, but he's doing all he can to control it. He's even spoken to a therapist because the president asked him to. Sometimes he'll be caught in his own head and it's a very scary place in there, I know from experience that sometimes you can't escape that darkness on your own." Kyoko held to her wrist trying not to think too much on her own mother. "Kuon knows though that he can call me to hear my voice and if he gets the voice mail that I will call him the next chance I get. When I'm by his side, even if he's woken up from having a bad dream, all I need to do is touch him and he can find his ground and calm himself. Kuon has some scary parts of his mind, but I love him and I can see all the work he's been doing to get better."

Kuu was silent as he looked at Kyoko, watching the passion that she carried for his son. She really was a good girl.

"Kyoko," Julie said uneasily, "I know what you're trying to say, but I've already lost Kuon. I don't want to lose another one of my children because of -"

Kyoko looked up, "I hate to say it but maybe it's because Kuon never got any real validation until he worked under the name Ren Tsuruga. He was always having to live up to standards that were set for him, always having to make sure not to dirty the Hizuri name and he got sick of it. He's not a bad guy, he just couldn't see a way of keeping his dream. He's not a bad guy."

"Kyoko, do you know how hard it is to come home to see your child gone and then him not coming home for years with no phone calls, no emails, nothing – it's as if he's saying that he doesn't care and that you don't matter."

Kyoko took a deep breath in and closed her eyes, she felt the tears filling them quickly. "No, I don't know how it feels to lose your child but I do know how it feels to come home and be locked out of your own house by your mother. I do know how it feels to _be_ a young child and see your mother walking away and not returning until you're an adult. A mother is supposed to love their child regardless, but I wasn't that lucky."

"I love Kuon," Julie argued.

"But you're mad at him for leaving because he broke, he couldn't function anymore under his own name and you didn't have any other choice but to send him away. He started to lose sight of who he was, started to rebel and become unstable," Kyoko looked down. "I know how he is when he's unstable and I can't promise you that he'll never show signs of it, but we're working on it together. Ever since I became his girlfriend and he explained things, we've been making plans and he's been seeking help to control that side of him. I know that he'd never hurt me and I know he never means to lose control. He's grown so strong from just knowing his weaknesses and building skills to cope with them."

"If you've seen him unstable then I don't understa-" Julie began but Kuu cut her off this time.

"It's because she loves him," Kuu told his wife and Kyoko nodded. "Kuon isn't perfect but we have to take responsibility in the fact that we weren't there for him. You have my word though that Katarina won't go away, we'll notice the signs, we'll do what we can and what we failed to do with Kuon. If we had just been there for him then -"

"I think it's best for Kuon and I to go back to Japan," Kyoko said honestly as she looked at Julie. "You need to talk with him, or at least ask him if he's okay to talk with you. Right now Kuon is shaken in his identity and it's because he thinks you hate him and are afraid of him. I have the feeling that you're not -"

"I love Kuon," Julie tried to explain to the woman across from her.

"Then you might want to tell him that because what you're doing scares me, Hizuri-san," Kyoko said weakly. "Kuon feels rejected by all of this, he feels that nothing he can do will make any difference and he's actually trying to get to know his sister despite how many years they haven't known about one another. The way that you tried to exclude him from a family that has been a source of strength from him reminds me of my mother and how she left me. Please don't leave Kuon out in the cold."

Julie walked to the sink and then washed her hands before looking at Kyoko, "Could you come with me for a moment?" she asked and Kyoko nodded before watching as Julie took out a key from a box in the hallway. She watched as Julie held it in her hand and took a very shaky breath before gesturing for Kyoko to follow her up the stairs and to a room that she had kept locked for so long. The only times when she would open it were if Kuu asked her to – though sometimes he would take the key himself – and times when she needed to think about her son and hope with all of her heart for his well-being in America.

….

….

Kyoko smiled weakly as she saw Julie unlock a room where nothing had been changed for years. This was the bedroom of a fifteen year old Kuon and Kyoko saw glimpses of his childhood as well as the moody emotional energy that had seemed to swarm around him in those middle teenage years.

This was as if she was walking into a shrine or a mausoleum.

Julie hung her head, sitting on the bed and picked up a book that Kuon had read perhaps a dozen times, "I lost my son, Kyoko," she told her. "I knew that I had missed saying goodbye to him, but I waited days, weeks, months, and then years for him to tell me that he wanted to talk to me. I had to live with the knowledge that I couldn't contact him and it broke my heart. It felt as if he didn't want anything to do with him, that I had failed him. Then I got given another chance and I didn't want to feel like I would fail her. I didn't want her to trip her up and hurt her the same way that I hurt him."

Kyoko paused as she looked around the room, she had thought that they would have completely transformed it into a guest room, thrown away all memory of Kuon, given the room to Katarina, but it still stayed as a memory of the son that never really grew up.

"Kyoko," Julie said sadly as she looked up at the woman her son loved, "Do you know the story of Peter Pan?"

Kyoko smiled, she loved that story because she liked the character of Tinkerbell. Neverland was not somewhere she would plan a vacation or a getaway because childhood wasn't all some people said it would be. She was much happier with creating her own stories and too excited about getting married and settling down with Kuon. She nodded.

"I see Kuon as Peter Pan which is just…silly, I know it's silly, but I just was waiting all this time because I thought if I never acknowledged he was gone that he would come back as the same person who left but recovered. I don't recognize the man that my son has become. I am so happy that he is doing better, but I wanted to help him. I wanted to make sure that he knew we loved him and wanted to help him."

Kyoko nodded, "He can't come back like that and he's really trying. I know that there are a lot of things that have changed but just denying his current existence," she said as she looked around. "You need to talk to Kuon, if not today then you need to find a time because you acting as if you hate him is going to make him not want to come to this house ever again," Kyoko attempted to persuade her and Julie sighed.

"I know," she admitted. "I'll try, do you think he could ever forgive me?"

"I don't know," Kyoko said honestly, "but Kuon is a great guy, I think even if it takes a little time, if you're willing to work on it, he'll be willing to forgive you."

…..

 **AN2:** Thank you to everyone who supports this fic 😊 Special Shout out to: **brennakai, ChordOversteetFan, Crazy4Animation, DreamIdol, and Sara** for their reviews on the previous chapter 😊


	9. Chapter 9 - Finally Talking

**Author Note:** I realized recently that there are only two chapters, after this one, of this left when I thought there might be more. I hope you stay with me until the end and that you enjoy it 😊 Thank you for all of your support.

 **Chapter Nine – Finally Talking**

As Katarina slept on the sofa where Kuon had gently put her and then tucked her in with a blanket, Kuon went on a search for Kyoko. He still felt slightly weird and very uncomfortable but he knew that if he could onto Kyoko for support, he could get through that night. As he nervously made his way to the kitchen, Kuon watched as his dad cooked.

He leaned against the wall and grinned at his father who had several things going on at once. "Another elaborate meal?" he asked with a grin as Kuu looked to him.

"Can't have my son come over for dinner without spoiling him a little," Kuu replied as he flipped something in a sauce pan. "Besides, I get to use my skills with cooking. You should remember how I loved cooking when you were a kid."

"Trust me," Kuon smiled softly, "It's not something I'll forget easily." Kuon looked down awkwardly, "Dad, I'm really sorry that I left for such a long time. I think that I was concentrating so much on improving my acting skills that I never really considered how long I'd been gone or the impact that my absence had on anyone else. I'm really sorry," he apologized as Kuu looked at him.

"Kuon, I love you," he said. "The fact that we didn't tell you about Katarina wasn't fair on you. I know that you want everything to be okay, but if you can't forgive us then don't force yourself to try. Believe it or not all we want for you is for you to be happy whether it's as Kuon Hizuri or Ren Tsuruga."

Kuon looked down nervously, "I'd love to be considered part of the Hizuri family again."

"Well it seems that at least Katarina and myself want that too," he said before sighing, "Kuon, I realize how hard this is and I know that it might not mean very much to hear _me_ say it, but your mother has never stopped loving you or caring about you. She might have a strange way of showing it and it might come off as if she doesn't, but trust me…she does…she's just it's hard when your child has to be sent away for his own good."

Kuon looked down, "I'm really trying to escape from the shadows of my past, Dad," he said before sighing. "So, do you know where Kyoko might have gone?" he asked wanting to change subject. Family life wasn't something he was ready to discuss just yet.

"I think she went upstairs," Kuu said before turning down the heat, "She's with your mo-" he tried to explain but when he looked up to where Kuon had been standing, he wasn't there any longer.

Kuu really hoped that everything would be alright.

….

….

Kuon froze as he saw that the door to his old bedroom was slightly ajar. He rolled his eyes, what was it now? His mother's office? A guest room? A room to put everything that one didn't want and that there wasn't a place for. Whatever it was, it probably wasn't something to do with him anymore. When it came to this house, it felt like his existence had been swept away.

He paused as he heard his mother and Kyoko talking and pushed his back against the wall so that neither of them would be able to hear that he was listening in on this private conversation. He wasn't sure what to say to them, but as he heard his mother speak he could understand the way that she was protecting herself. After all, there wasn't any guarantee that he wouldn't flip out and that the dark Kuon wouldn't emerge.

He could understand why she was scared that it would be a bad influence on Katarina to look up to somebody like that. Thinking of how he had attacked people on the streets in an animalistic way made him feel that if he had a daughter of his own, he would try to separate her from that kind of person. Yet, he wasn't that person anymore. He had left this house and worked hard on improving himself.

It seemed that his mother couldn't see that and that she had wanted to erase that part of him.

If she had included him in the holiday family letter then she might have had to explain the monster that he had become during his teenage years. She hadn't reached out to him because he had put a boundary up around himself and he hadn't told his relatives about his new identity. Therefore, he had been able to keep it a secret. He just didn't know his parents were keeping him a secret, it looked like they were ashamed of him.

"You know," he said as he finally turned the corner and saw his mother staring at him, a little afraid of him. "The biggest challenge that I've faced is attempting to forgive myself. It means I have to face myself and face my past. It takes a lot of energy to do that."

"Hi, Corn" Kyoko said weakly. She hadn't meant to talk about him behind his back and she definitely hadn't wanted him to know that she was getting involved with all of this. She couldn't help it though, she loved him and she didn't want him to face pain. She knew that if she had known she had a little sister who received the love and adoration that she had strived for but never received, she would be sinking into her own black hole.

"Hey," Kuon smiled to her. "Mom," he said as he looked at her, "We need to talk. I need to tell you that I'm not your little boy anymore, not the way that you once thought I was. Still, I'm also not the monster that I became when I was a teenager. I've shaped myself so that I won't become someone that I'm not proud of and I fight every single day to be someone I can proudly be, someone who Kyoko is proud to be with, someone who makes you proud to have as a son."

Julie nodded silently, "Are you sure you can do that?" she asked and Kyoko shifted nervously because of the blunt question. Kuon however stood with determination in his eyes.

"It's a daunting challenge and it has had its hard times, but I found Kyoko and because I found Kyoko it's become easier to understand who I am. I have faults, but more importantly I've come to identify and understand my faults. I am proud of the work that I'm doing and the maturity I've gained. I'm proud that I can be called Kuon by Kyoko and yet not want to cause damage to anyone. I am happy with who I am and it's taken about a decade for me to think that of myself."

"I'm worried though," Julie told him and Kuon sighed, "How do you think that you're going to raise a child or even take care of somebody else's child going through what you've gone through. Nobody gets through a life like that without scars, Kuon."

Kuon sighed and looked up before coming to sit down on a chair in the room. He looked around, amused by how they actually hadn't changed it since he had left. "Did you know that the president lost his daughter-in-law in a plane accident and his son didn't feel capable of raising his daughter so the president took in his granddaughter and took care of her?" he asked as Julie nodded.

"Have you ever met Maria?" he asked her and Julie sighed.

"Only once but she was very young," Julie replied, "Never after the accident."

"Well, she's like a younger sister to Kyoko and to myself," Kuon tried to explain to his mother. "Forgetting about the fact that she had a huge crush on me at one point and that she used to scare away every woman who tried to flirt with me before she understood how Kyoko and I made each other happy, she has never been afraid of me. In fact, before she met Kyoko, Maria used to tell me everything because I was the one who comforted her the most."

"It wasn't that our pain was the same. I didn't have to live with my parents being deceased, I had to live with myself isolating myself because everyone was terrified that I would lose it and have to be locked up whether in a prison or in a mental health facility. Our stories were different, but it was that same feeling of pain, of loneliness, and especially of guilt that made it so I was able to make sure she was alright," Kuon tried to tell his mother.

"I still had moments when I got very angry, but when she realized it she understood that I would never want to release my anger outwardly. Maria was still very young, but now she's grown up and she's accepted me. She still doesn't know that I'm Kuon Hizuri, but she does know I'm someone who gets angry, gets sad, but wants people to be safe. What I'm saying is that Maria has had to experience a lot of pain, but I was able to help her and the way that she likes spending time with me gives me pride."

Kuon sighed and looked down, taking deep breaths in, "I'd like to get to know Katarina in the same way I got to know Maria. I know that you think that I'm irresponsible or that I'm out of control, but I've found my happiness. I've found a way to remain calm and positive. I've found a way or rather a person who helps me be at my best and who can accept me at my worst."

Julie looked down, not knowing what to say.

"Mother," Kuon said sadly, trying to keep his strength and trying not to show any of his anger or pain at feeling rejected by her. "Can we try this again? Can I become part of your family?" he asked and Julie nodded shakily.

"I'm so sorry, Kuon," she said with a weak look up to him. "I'm so sorry that I wasn't strong enough to tell you. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to -"

"Can we just start over?" Kuon asked. "It's hard for me to forgive if I think too much on this, but I'd like to try to forgive you. I'd like to become a part of this family."

Kyoko looked at the two of them and noticed Julie nod weakly and Kuon sighed. Maybe things could get back to normal now. "Okay, how about we go and check on Katarina," she said as she took his hand and helped him stand up.

Julie nervously looked at them, "Kyoko, could you stay behind for a moment?" she asked. Kyoko looked over to her fiancé and kissed his cheek.

"Are you okay with this?" she asked as he nodded and went downstairs. Kyoko turned to look back at her future-mother in law.

"What can I help with?" Kyoko tried to act positive though she was scared that it would be something that would cause Kuon to experience more pain.

"I just wanted to thank you," Julie said as Kyoko blinked in surprise. "If it wasn't for you then Kuon wouldn't have been this happy or this safe. I've greatly underestimated him and I know that it will take time to make it up to him, if I even can, but for you I have to thank you. Thank you for keeping him alive and making it so that he's happy, you're…thank you for loving my son."

Kyoko smiled, "You don't need to thank me," she said quickly, "Loving Kuon is the easiest thing I have ever done, he really makes me feel like a princess."

 **End Chapter Nine**

 **AN2:** Thank you to everyone who has been supporting me through this, special shout out to reviewers of the previous chapter: **brennakai** and **DreamIdol**


	10. Chapter 10 - Happy Family

**AN:** This chapter is so short! I originally had plans for two parts after this chapter, but I thought this would bring it to a nice close. It's still suuuper short. The two other scenes were Ren coming out as Kuon and Kuu, Julie, and Katarina visiting them on the holidays to discover that Kyoko is pregnant but I like how this chapter ended. I really hope you enjoy and that you have enjoyed all the chapters in this fic.

 **Chapter Ten – A Happy Family**

Even though the conversation had helped Kuon feel closer to his mother, there was still some tension in the air. Even if you could accept that the people who were supposed to love you unconditionally had lied about you having a younger sibling, or not having, there was a long way to actually forgiving them for doing so. Still, you had to try somewhere.

Kyoko saw this look of anxiety on Kuon's face and placed a hand on his shoulder, sliding into the seat next to him. "It'll be okay," she whispered before letting her head rest on his shoulder. "I love you," she told him with a soft and sweet kiss to his upper arm.

Seeing the two of them together, Katarina giggled. "Are you excited?" she asked and Kyoko blinked unsure what she should be excited about.

"I'm excited about a lot of things," Kyoko nodded, "I'm excited about eating dinner as a family. I'm excited that we still have a few days here so that we can play and I can learn more about the Hizuri family. There's a lot that I'm excited about."

"Are you excited to be marrying my big brother?" Katarina grinned as Julie smiled to herself although there was still guilt in her eyes over how she had treated Kuon and a worry that he might not be able to forgive her.

"That is something I am very excited to do," Kyoko nodded and Kuon laughed as he took a bite of his meal.

"Is it because he's a prince?" Katarina asked and Kyoko nodded.

"He definitely is _my_ prince," she grinned, "Do you want to hear about the first time that I met your older brother?" she asked as Kuon laughed and shook his head with a grin. Kyoko really did know how to help him feel more at ease with everything that was going on. He saw Katarina nod excitedly.

"Well, your dad had taken him on a trip to Japan when he was a little older than you are but not too much older. Kuon really likes nature and animals and I met him in a place where he could see both. I was really interested in him because of his hair and his eyes, he looked so exotic to me but not like a foreigner, like a fairy prince."

Kyoko slipped her fingers around Kuon's and then realized that Julie and Kuu were listening to this story as well.

"Well, I wanted to ask this fairy his name and so he said it was Kuon, but I heard it as Corn, as the one you eat and that really made me think he was a fairy because of how uncommon a name it was. We spent many days together and when he told me that he had to leave, it really upset me. He gave me a stone to stop my sadness and take away my pain. Then I met him years later and fell for him all over again."

"Is that love?" Katarina asked innocently as she watched them.

"I would definitely call what me and Kyoko share, love" Kuon grinned as he brought Kyoko's hand up to his lips and pressed a kiss on it.

"Then you'll be my big sister," Katarina giggled, "Can I get your email? Kuon already gave me his email," she asked Kyoko who nodded and then ate some of the meal.

"I hope that it's okay that I gave it to her," Kuon said weakly.

"I don't see a problem with that," Kuu said as he turned to look at Julie who smiled but was too ashamed to really make eye contact with her son.

"There will be calls too, right? You'll phone each other?" she asked, "and you'll talk to us too?"

"Yes, of course," Kuon nodded. "I'm going to tell Japan who I really am and since Kyoko and I will soon be married, we'll be able to come and visit as well." He took Kyoko's hand and squeezed it again as she nodded.

"It'll be really exciting to be part of a loving family," she told them, "and of course you can have my email address. Who else am I going to share cute stories about your brother with, plus all those photos that I take of him. We'll definitely have to talk like sisters," she winked as Katarina looked excited.

"I'm really glad that I get a big brother like you, Kuon" she told him as Kyoko watched him.

"I'm glad that I get a younger sister like you."

 **End of Acceptance**

 **A2:** Thank you to everyone who has supported me during this fic including my reviewers, favoriters, and followers. Thank you for allowing me to share this story with all of you.

Anake14, Annabella Prinx, Ashenvale, BecokingCat, bookishangel, Brennakai, BronzeShadowolf, , ChordOverstreetFan, chrysolyne, Crazy4Animation, DreamIdol, Fiona222, Gis Sierra, Guest, H-Nala, Heidithewolf, joeclynchewpy, KathrynElle, killer queen 13, kotoko-98, KrisXD, ktoll9, ladygraywolf, lashun316, lialee, MarieReeds, marirroma, Marylouane, Matelia-legwll, Melime14, Michiyo, Navidasti, NieLis, paulagato, sara, Sargent93, Segula, sunshinehat, sweetygirl1997, taymb9927, Thoththo, TuTsxXxX, ValkyrieDefender, veronica55


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